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Gràcia was established in 1626, by a Novitiate of Carmelites, who established a convent there, called "Nostra Senyora de Gràcia (Our Lady of Grace)". Following the loss of Catalan independence from Spain in 1714, Gràcia remained an independent municipality in the direction of the Serra de Collserola mountains (north/northwest) from central Barcelona. Passeig de Gràcia, the street which is today home to the most high-end international fashion brands and posh hotels (Barcelona’s version of the Champs-Élysées), was back then a country road linking the town to the larger city, through the plain of Barcelona.

During the mid-1800s, Barcelona was rapidly industrialising and significantly expanding its borders from those of the Roman murallas and old city. The advent of new industry was drawing Catalans by the thousands to abandon their farms and move to the city, spurring a shift from an agriculturally based, rural economy to an urban economy focused on manufacturing and trade.[1]

Between 1801 and 1850 alone, the population of Barcelona grew by over fifty percent, from 115,000 to roughly 187,000 citizens. However, industrial expansion brought problems with it.[2] Packed living quarters, densely lined streets, and poor public infrastructure all contributed to the spreading of disease and uncleanliness that plagued the city's poorer masses. Life expectancy plummeted to 23 years old for the poor and 36 years for the rich. The sewage system was overwhelmed with the mass of people sharing cramped streets, and the poorly designed streets offered little in terms of fresh air or ventilation. The Junta de Derribo in the 1840s was a famous, published account of the conditions.[citation needed]

Modern map of the districts of Barcelona; Gràcia can be seen in red.

In 1854, the government of Barcelona recognised the need for an answer to the swelling population issues, and began investigating the construction of what would become the Eixample district. Situated between the old city of neighbourhoods like El Raval, Ciutat Vella, and El Born, and the outlying municipalities of Gràcia, Sant Martí, Sants, and Montjuïc, the Eixample (alternatively known as L’Eixample or Ensanche, in Catalan) underwent a number of iterations in the planning stages. In 1855, the Ministry of Development, under the authority of the federal government in Spain at the time, commissioned Ildefons Cerdà, a Catalan urban planner, to design the new district.[3] However, when the local government changed political sides, Cerdà’s plan was discarded and as the new government held a project competition which Cerdà lost. The winning plan, supported by the local city council, was that of Antoni Rovira i Trias, another Catalan urban planner who played a central role in demolition of the 18th-century military installation, Ciutadella, that helped open Barcelona to the developments of the new century. Despite the contest, Cerdà’s plan (which was heavily criticised at the time by his contemporaries as being overtly socialist) weathered the controversy and became the basis of the Eixample district, as it retained the support of the central Spanish government.

Over the next forty years, as the plan took hold and the city began to sprawl, the Eixample rapidly pushed Barcelona’s borders closer and closer to the long-independent municipality of Gràcia. In 1897, Barcelona formally annexed the town of Gràcia, and it has existed since as a neighborhood of the Catalan capital. Although no longer independent, Gràcia has long maintained a distinct identity as a unique district of the diverse, larger metropolis to which it belongs.[citation needed]

Today home to over 120,000 people, according to the Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Gràcia is both the smallest district by area, at 4.2 km2, and the second most densely populated neighbourhood in Barcelona. One of the hippest, most cosmopolitan areas in the city, Gràcia’s intimate, close-packed streets and predominately low-rise, Mediterranean architecture give it a distinct feel. Its old, one-way streets are organized around a series of plazas, including Plaça de Vila de Gràcia, Plaça del Sol and Plaça de la Virreina. “Old-world charm”[4] abounds.

The Gràcia population is an mix of young professionals and artists and a growing elderly population, with a significant portion of older Catalans who came of age as Franco came to power. Catalan flags adorn many a Gràcia window or terrace, symbols of the neighbourhood’s fiercely pro-independence politics.

Compared to the other classic Barcelona neighbourhoods, Ciutat Vella and the rest of the old city, Gràcia is relatively void of major tourist attractions. In this bohemian enclave of Catalan urban life there aren't many international brands or fast-food chains. instead, small gourmet street food outposts are common; there are an array of ethnic cuisines, from Japanese to Greek. Ubiquitous as well are the bountiful small cafes serve classic Spanish tapas and Catalan specialties. Shopping abounds in funky mum'n’dad shops selling stylish trinkets and vintage clothing. Talented artisans and artists can be found in the squares and in small ground floor shops.

Travellers say that Gracia good for shopping (e.g. on Carrer de Verdi) and the true local experience - city's atmosphere on its quiet placas and catalan cuisine.[5]

Nightlife in Gràcia is dominated by Spanish café culture, with an abundance of small bars and restaurants that host late-night revelry and long conversations. At the weekends, one might hear any number of local live music acts, from a single guitarist to a four-piece band. As for clubs, Otto Zutz is a famous hotspot at the Western end of Gràcia.[according to whom?]

For transportation, Gràcia is served by the L3 (Green) and L4 (Yellow) lines of the Barcelona metro, with stops at Penitents, Vallcarca, Lesseps, and Fontana on the L3, and Joanic and Verdaguer on the L4. The Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya (FGC) also operate the Gràcia station of the Barcelona - Metro de Vallès line. Additionally, numerous bus and night bus lines in the TMB Barcelona system cover Gràcia. As with the rest of the city, bikes are very common.

The neighbourhood of Gràcia is both culturally and artistically distinct from the rest of the city of Barcelona. The neighbourhood was considered a separate municipality until its annexation in 1897, and its unique culture has persisted, rendering it a completely self-sufficient area of Barcelona.[6] Although its eclectic charm attracts travellers from all over, unlike much of Barcelona, the majority of Gràcia’s inhabitants are locals. During the day, the “hipster” barrio is full of life, projecting a hip and edgy vibe. At night, however, the environment transforms, and although the narrow streets are quiet and peaceful, bars often host talented jazz singers, and groups of teenagers gather in the squares.

Several historic sites in Gràcia enhance its eclectic charm. For instance, Casa Vicens, designed by Antoni Gaudí, the famous Catalan modernist architect, is one of the neighborhood’s main attractions. In 1883 construction was put into effect with a blueprint consisting of ground-floor buildings and a garden. Later, Gaudí approved an extension consisting of stairs and a patio, and Casa Vicens has been restored on multiple occasions in order to preserve Gaudí’s vision.

Central to Gaudí’s design philosophy was his belief that every aspect of his designs are equal in importance. The smoking room door displays this attention to detail, with many intricate coloured glass pieces that illuminate at night. Gaudí also took into account minor details such as the stairs leading to areas of the roof rarely inhabited. That the design aspects often seem unrelated makes for an aesthetically interesting work of art.[4]

Eusebi Güell, a close friend of Gaudí, commissioned him to bring into fruition the majestic[according to whom?]Park Güell. Güell selected the beautiful[according to whom?] area of Muntanya Pelada, where he envisioned a park modeled after the residential parks of England, with the spectacular[according to whom?] view of the sea on display for its residents. Already blooming were carob and olive trees, and based on the weather conditions, Guadí’s design included Mediterranean plants that would not require considerable water to thrive. He also devised a fully functional irrigation system to provide the community with water resources. Not only did Güell occupy an old mansion on the estate, but Gaudí himself resided in a home there with several family members.

By 1914 only these two houses had been built, forcing Gaudí to abandon his plans for some sixty houses. Nevertheless, the estate was converted into a private garden, and In 1963, Gaudi’s house was made accessible to the public with its grand opening as the “Gaudí House Museum.” In 1969, Park Güell was declared a “patrimonio del mundo”, or World Heritage Site, by UNESCO.[7]

Graffiti tours have become a main tourist attraction in Barcelona, and Gràcia is home to some of the most intriguing pieces,[according to whom?] adorning its serene streets with vibrant colours. For instance, Ozzy's art, appearing in many parts of Barcelona, is marked by bright poster designs, while the artist C215 produces detailed stencilled works.[8]

The most notable[according to whom?] event in Gràcia is the Festes de Gràcia, which goes on for eight days every August. The largest neighbourhood festival in Barcelona,[4] the Festa Major de Gràcia began in 1817 as a celebration of the neighbourhood itself (at the time still an independent town). Gràcia's residents compete for the crown of best street or square, selecting distinct themes and extensively decorating in Spanish carnival style, and organised by a number of local associations.[9] The selected themes range from scenes of nature, to wild animals and creatures, to characters from popular culture.

The Catalan practice of castellers, dating back to the 18th century, is also enacted. The inhabitants of Valls, a tiny town located on the outskirts of Barcelona, initiated this tradition of human towers, which became a competitive sport. The original structure was accompanied by a traditional folklore dance, and although the flute still accompanies the performance to this day, the dance became a separate spectacle by the 19th century.

The modern Catalan castell is similar to its original design: the pinya is a large ring at the bottom of the structure that supports the human weight, and each level consists of a specific number of people. The tronc, meaning "trunk" in Catalan, is composed of several levels, and only children are permitted to make up the top level due to their lighter weight. The "anxeta", the smallest child who holds the position at the top of the tower, is the last to climb the structure, and only remains there for several seconds, saluting the crowd below. Most often, around nine people form a single castell made up of up to seven or eight rows, and each structure has its own name.[10]

At night booths sell alcoholic beverages and an abundance of live musical acts of many genres are present. 1.5 million people[11] are rumored to attend each August over the week, although this figure is not verified.

To the northern (mountain) end of Gràcia on El Carmel mountain (and technically outside its borders depending on who is asked) lies Park Güell, arguably the most famous work of Catalonia’s most famous architect, Antoni Gaudí.

On "Carrer de les Carolines", between Plaça Lesseps and Fontana, lies Casa Vicens, Gaudí’s first major work of architecture and a staple in his canon of modernist design. An occupied house for decades, Casa Vicens only recently became a tourist attraction on November 15, 2017.[12] The building was declared a UNESCOWorld Heritage Site in 2005.[13]

Parc Güell

Casa Fuster, a fabled, grand modernist-style hotel that lies at the edge of Gràcia’s southern (water) end on the Plaça de Nicolás Salmerón. Designed by Catalan master architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner between 1908 and 1910, the ornate house was converted to a hotel in 2004.[14]

In the Plaça de la Vila de Gràcia, the bell tower marks the old administrative centre of the former independent municipality. The tower, a 33-meter-high octagonal figure, was built by Rovira i Trias between 1862 and 1864. A legend describes the “Campana de Gràcia” and its role in local conflicts from 1870.

Gràcia was the original home to the Teatre Lliure, one of Spain's most prestigious[citation needed] theatres (the theatre has since relocated to Montjuïc). Additionally, the Cinema Verdi[15] is a popular[citation needed] cinema in Barcelona, showing both local and foreign (Western) films in their original languages.

Biblioteca Jaume Fuster

In Plaça Lesseps, named after French diplomat and entrepreneur Ferdinand de Lesseps who developed the Suez Canal, the Biblioteca Jaume Fuster is an attractive, modern addition to the neighbourhood. "Designed by architect Josep Llinàs i Carmona, it is one of the largest and most modern"[16] libraries in Barcelona. It opened in 2005.

^Pallares-Barbara, Montserrat; Badia, Anna; Duch, Jordi (2011). "Cerdà and Barcelona: The need for a new city and service provision". Urbani izziv 22. "Cerdà and Barcelona: The need for a new city and service provision".CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link)

^Arturo Soria y Puig (ed): Cerdà: the five bases of the general theory of urbanization, Electa, 1999.

Park Güell

The Park Güell is a public park system composed of gardens and architectonic elements located on Carmel Hill, in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Carmel Hill belongs to the mountain range of Collserola – the Parc del Carmel is located on the northern face. Park Güell is located in La Salut, a neighborhood in the Gràcia district of Barcelona. With urbanization in mind, Eusebi Güell assigned the design of the park to Antoni Gaudí, a renowned architect and the face of Catalan modernism.

Eixample

The Eixample is a district of Barcelona between the old city and what were once surrounding small towns, constructed in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Its population was 262,000 at the last census (2005).

Modernisme

Modernisme, also known as Catalan modernism, is the historiographic denomination given to an art and literature movement associated with the search of a new entitlement of Catalan culture, one of the most predominant cultures within Spain. Nowadays it is considered a movement based on the cultural reivindication of a catalan identity. Its main form of expression was in architecture, but many other arts were involved, and especially the design and the decorative arts, which were particularly important, especially in their role as support to architecture. Modernisme was also a literary movement.

Casa Vicens

Casa Vicens is a house in Barcelona, designed by Antoni Gaudí, now a museum. It is located in the neighbourhood of Gràcia on Carrer de les Carolines, 20-26. It is considered one of the first buildings of Art Nouveau and was the first house designed by Gaudí.

Josep Maria Jujol

Josep Maria Jujol i Gibert was a Spanish architect. Jujol's wide field of activity ranged from furniture designs and painting, to architecture. He worked with Antoni Gaudí on many of his most famous works. Among Jujol's projects are Casa Batlló, Casa Milà, Park Güell, and Our Lady of Montserrat, and among his design styles are Modernisme and Art Nouveau.

Passeig de Gràcia, Barcelona

Passeig de Gràcia is one of the major avenues in Barcelona (Catalonia) and one of its most important shopping and business areas, containing several of the city's most celebrated pieces of architecture. It is located in the central part of Eixample, stretching from Plaça Catalunya to Carrer Gran de Gràcia.

Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes

Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, more simply known as Gran Via[ˈɡɾam ˈbi.ə], is one of Barcelona's major avenues. With a length of 13.1 km (8.1 mi), it is the longest street in Catalonia and the 2nd longest in Spain, after Gran Vía de la Manga, in La Manga del Mar Menor, but is the one with more street numbers in Spain.

Avinguda Diagonal

Avinguda Diagonal is the name of one of Barcelona's broadest and most important avenues. It cuts the city in two, diagonally with respect to the grid pattern of the surrounding streets, hence the name.

Rambla de Catalunya

Rambla de Catalunya is a major street in the Eixample district of central Barcelona. It is one of the city's trendiest streets, with many international fashion shops, and is lined with lime trees.

Culture of Barcelona

Barcelona'sculture stems from the city's 2000 years of history. To a greater extent than the rest of Catalonia, where Catalonia's native Catalan is more dominant, Barcelona is a bilingual city: Catalan and Spanish are both official languages and widely spoken. Since the arrival of democracy, the Catalan culture has been promoted, both by recovering works from the past and by stimulating the creation of new works.

Plaça de Lesseps, Barcelona

Plaça de Lesseps is a square serving as the border between the Sarrià-Sant Gervasi and Gràcia district of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, loosely divided in two parts. One of the most heavily transited squares in the city, Lesseps is the starting point of one of Barcelona's busiest rondes: Ronda del General Mitre, as well as being the west end of Carrer Gran de Gràcia and being crossed by a number of streets, namely: Travessera de Dalt, Avinguda del Príncep d'Astúries, Avinguda de Vallcarca, Avinguda de la República Argentina, Carrer del Torrent de l'Olla, Carrer de la Mare de Déu del Coll, Carrer de Santa Perpètua, Carrer de Maignon and Carrer de Pérez Galdós.

List of Gaudí buildings

Antoni Gaudí was an architect from Catalonia, Spain, who belonged to the Modernisme movement. He was famous for his unique style and highly individualistic designs.

Illa de la Discòrdia

The Illa de la Discòrdia or Mansana de la Discòrdia[mənˈsanə ðə lə disˈkɔɾði.ə] — "Block of Discord"; Spanish: Manzana de la Discordia — is a city block on Passeig de Gràcia in the Eixample district of Barcelona, Spain. The block is noted for having buildings by four of Barcelona's most important Modernista architects, Lluís Domènech i Montaner, Antoni Gaudí, Josep Puig i Cadafalch and Enric Sagnier, in close proximity. As the four architects' styles were very different, the buildings clash with each other and the neighboring buildings. They were all built in the early years of the 20th century.

Carrer del Consell de Cent, Barcelona

Carrer del Consell de Cent is a long avenue in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It's one of the horizontal streets of the urban grid that makes up Eixample district, spanning the Esquerra de l'Eixample and the Dreta de l'Eixample quarters, starting at the Parc de Joan Miró by carrer de Vilamarí and ending in the neighbourhood of El Clot, by Avinguda Meridiana, in the Sant Martí district.

Antoni Gaudí

Antoni Gaudí i Cornet was a Spanish architect known as the greatest exponent of Catalan Modernism. Gaudí's works have a highly individualized, one-of-a-kind style. Most are located in Barcelona, including his main work, the church of the Sagrada Família.

Gaudí House Museum

Gaudí House-Museum, located within the Park Güell in Barcelona was the residence of Antoni Gaudí for almost 20 years, from 1906 till the end of 1925. On 28 September 1963 it was opened as a historic home museum and nowadays houses a collection of furniture and objects designed by the architect.

Barcelona City History Museum

The Barcelona City History Museum is a city museum that conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits the historical heritage of the city of Barcelona, from its origins in Roman times until the present day; it is funded by the Barcelona municipality. The museum's headquarters are located on Plaça del Rei, in the Barcelona Gothic Quarter. It also manages several historic sites all around the city, most of them archaeological sites displaying remains of the ancient Roman city, called Barcino in Latin. Some others date to medieval times, including the Jewish quarter and the medieval royal palace called the Palau Reial Major. The rest are contemporary, among them old industrial buildings and sites related to Antoni Gaudí and the Spanish Civil War. The museum was inaugurated on 14 April 1943; its principal promoter and first director was the historian Agustí Duran i Sanpere.

Barcelona Tourist Bus

Barcelona Bús Turístic is a tourist bus service in the city of Barcelona, which in 2012 had 3 routes and a fleet of 74 buses. It is managed by the consortium of Turisme de Barcelona and TMB.

Outline of Barcelona

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Barcelona: